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mortification · 05-13-2001, 07:41 PM

This is a great game...I grew up playing many of the "old school" RPG's and this game continues a lot of the trends established in classics like Bard's Tale, Wizardry, Might and Magic, and Ultima.

I especially like the multitude of races (er, I mean "clans") and classes (er, "roles") to choose from. The feature of being able to change classes in mid-game several times if desired is very cool. I also like stat-based games personally more than item-based games and this is one of those games where a good party can be "naked" and still be good.

Also it's refreshing to be able to play a large (up to 6-person) party; I personally dislike the current trend towards 1-person RPG's. Even when NPC's are involved, I enjoy micromanaging my characters a great deal.

Finally I see this game as having the potential to solidify a new mini-genre, that of party-based 1st person RPG's (that use real 3d graphics). This trend was started IMHO with Might and Magic 6 and up and it is a great way to preserve the aspects of CRPGS that appeal to purists while encompassing the new technology that gains mainstream acceptance.

I have some comments and questions that maybe someone can help with. Keep in mind that I've only played about 1/3 of the game yet so some of this might become moot later. Also I do really enjoy the game, this is just constructive criticism for the sequel:

1. What's the deal with ranged weapons? It seems like it is impossible using the "adaptive time-phasing" system to properly deal with more than 1 character that uses a ranged attack. Unless you've got that guy preselected and ready to go, you can't get off more than 1 shot before the monsters are on you. Also, by the time you switch to the next guy with ranged attack (like a Wizard) you've already taken 3-4 hits. God forbid you need to select a different ranged attack or spell. I have no problem with the phasing system once the computer decides that meelee combat is officially begun, but what about prior to this? Is there some way to turn this on manually (as in MM6 - MM8, by pressing the space bar).

2. Ranged attacks are kind of weak. My Ranger with LVL4 bow and a nice crossbow with +1 arrows still misses mostly, or hits for 2 DMG. Does it get better? Thrown weapons seem absolutely useless, both for characters and monsters (such as the sissy knife-throwing bandits. "looks like someone wants to play the hero", alright, but it's certainly not them after my Barbarian rams about 14 inches of steel down their throat).

3. The thief can't switch classes until much later in the game than the other classes. This really weakens him IMHO, since by the time he switches, he's got to climb very high in levels to get back to the non-penalty leveling bonuses. Also once you get the pry spell the lockpicking skill is really not needed since there are so few chests and doors to open, comparatively. Pickpockets is not so useful unless you invest a lot of skill in it and then your thief is weak in other areas. Maybe a fair balance would be to have all the classes wait until the second city to switch roles.

4. How the heck do you save inside the City? This is a real limitation. Also load times are very long (although I really don't mind this, as it cuts down on the temptation to exploit some aspects of the game by reloading.)

5. The outdoors automap to me is very difficult to use, especially since all of the objects (trees, pathway, stones, etc.) look about the same color in the tiny window. Also there should be a zoom feature in the tiny window like there is in MM6-MM8.

6. The quests and autonotes journal is cumbersome to use. Personally I like the MM6-MM8 style better.

7. It seems like conversation outdoors is really cumbersome sometimes. Outdoors, it is almost impossible sometimes to talk to characters that for some unknown reason are hopping around like the white rabbit on the way to a hole somewhere. Toad-face is especially bad about this, since I blew two elixirs trying to frantically give them to him after the determined our conversation was over and ran away. Luckily I had a third party member with an elixir quest. Also for characters that initiate conversation on their own, they tend to follow you around until they've said all they wanted to say. This means that you or they can get stuck places that they shouldnm't be. Again, my personal preference from the MM6-MM8 games is to have all plot- or quest- sensitive conversations take place in paused gametime or indoors. This also means that you can't accidentally kill the wrong person in the middle of a larger melee (windmill-girl got caught up in the middle of a fight with some bats, and stood right where she should'nt have in mid-swing of the aforementioned barbarian. Hope she has insurance.)

8. Indoor conversation is almost painful sometimes, especially at shops/guilds. I don't need to hear about not completing the Paladin quest for the 30th time before I can click any buttons. Much better woud be to have all quest status conversations on a seperate menu. Also, when I want to interrupt somebody I should be able to without disrupting the game or potentially losing a quest reward.

9. If you don't cheat, at least in the early game gold/resource management is really a major obstacle. It seems almost impossible to afford some of the fancy items and training, especially for 6 people. Maybe this is an advantage to soloing.

Sorry for the length. Comments are welcome. Maybe I'm being stupud and missing something major.

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05-13-2001, 07:41 PM	#1
mortification Elite Waterdeep Guard Join Date: May 13, 2001 Location: West Lafayette, IN, USA Posts: 35	This is a great game...I grew up playing many of the "old school" RPG's and this game continues a lot of the trends established in classics like Bard's Tale, Wizardry, Might and Magic, and Ultima. I especially like the multitude of races (er, I mean "clans") and classes (er, "roles") to choose from. The feature of being able to change classes in mid-game several times if desired is very cool. I also like stat-based games personally more than item-based games and this is one of those games where a good party can be "naked" and still be good. Also it's refreshing to be able to play a large (up to 6-person) party; I personally dislike the current trend towards 1-person RPG's. Even when NPC's are involved, I enjoy micromanaging my characters a great deal. Finally I see this game as having the potential to solidify a new mini-genre, that of party-based 1st person RPG's (that use real 3d graphics). This trend was started IMHO with Might and Magic 6 and up and it is a great way to preserve the aspects of CRPGS that appeal to purists while encompassing the new technology that gains mainstream acceptance. I have some comments and questions that maybe someone can help with. Keep in mind that I've only played about 1/3 of the game yet so some of this might become moot later. Also I do really enjoy the game, this is just constructive criticism for the sequel: 1. What's the deal with ranged weapons? It seems like it is impossible using the "adaptive time-phasing" system to properly deal with more than 1 character that uses a ranged attack. Unless you've got that guy preselected and ready to go, you can't get off more than 1 shot before the monsters are on you. Also, by the time you switch to the next guy with ranged attack (like a Wizard) you've already taken 3-4 hits. God forbid you need to select a different ranged attack or spell. I have no problem with the phasing system once the computer decides that meelee combat is officially begun, but what about prior to this? Is there some way to turn this on manually (as in MM6 - MM8, by pressing the space bar). 2. Ranged attacks are kind of weak. My Ranger with LVL4 bow and a nice crossbow with +1 arrows still misses mostly, or hits for 2 DMG. Does it get better? Thrown weapons seem absolutely useless, both for characters and monsters (such as the sissy knife-throwing bandits. "looks like someone wants to play the hero", alright, but it's certainly not them after my Barbarian rams about 14 inches of steel down their throat). 3. The thief can't switch classes until much later in the game than the other classes. This really weakens him IMHO, since by the time he switches, he's got to climb very high in levels to get back to the non-penalty leveling bonuses. Also once you get the pry spell the lockpicking skill is really not needed since there are so few chests and doors to open, comparatively. Pickpockets is not so useful unless you invest a lot of skill in it and then your thief is weak in other areas. Maybe a fair balance would be to have all the classes wait until the second city to switch roles. 4. How the heck do you save inside the City? This is a real limitation. Also load times are very long (although I really don't mind this, as it cuts down on the temptation to exploit some aspects of the game by reloading.) 5. The outdoors automap to me is very difficult to use, especially since all of the objects (trees, pathway, stones, etc.) look about the same color in the tiny window. Also there should be a zoom feature in the tiny window like there is in MM6-MM8. 6. The quests and autonotes journal is cumbersome to use. Personally I like the MM6-MM8 style better. 7. It seems like conversation outdoors is really cumbersome sometimes. Outdoors, it is almost impossible sometimes to talk to characters that for some unknown reason are hopping around like the white rabbit on the way to a hole somewhere. Toad-face is especially bad about this, since I blew two elixirs trying to frantically give them to him after the determined our conversation was over and ran away. Luckily I had a third party member with an elixir quest. Also for characters that initiate conversation on their own, they tend to follow you around until they've said all they wanted to say. This means that you or they can get stuck places that they shouldnm't be. Again, my personal preference from the MM6-MM8 games is to have all plot- or quest- sensitive conversations take place in paused gametime or indoors. This also means that you can't accidentally kill the wrong person in the middle of a larger melee (windmill-girl got caught up in the middle of a fight with some bats, and stood right where she should'nt have in mid-swing of the aforementioned barbarian. Hope she has insurance.) 8. Indoor conversation is almost painful sometimes, especially at shops/guilds. I don't need to hear about not completing the Paladin quest for the 30th time before I can click any buttons. Much better woud be to have all quest status conversations on a seperate menu. Also, when I want to interrupt somebody I should be able to without disrupting the game or potentially losing a quest reward. 9. If you don't cheat, at least in the early game gold/resource management is really a major obstacle. It seems almost impossible to afford some of the fancy items and training, especially for 6 people. Maybe this is an advantage to soloing. Sorry for the length. Comments are welcome. Maybe I'm being stupud and missing something major. ------------------ (This space intentionally left blank)